Watch Four Daring Films by Lois Weber, “the Most Important Female Director the American Film Industry Has Known” (1913-1921)

These days, every cinephile can name more than a few women among their favorite living filmmakers: Sofia Coppola, Ava DuVernay, Kathryn Bigelow, Jane Campion, Agnès Varda - the list goes on. But if we look farther back into cinema history, coming up with examples becomes much more difficult. There's Ida Lupino, previously featured here on Open Culture , whose The Hitch-Hiker made her the only female director of a 1950s film noir, but before her? No name from that early era is more important than that of Lois Weber , in some estimations "the most important female director the American film...Read more ...